Thoughts on Open Data

I went back and re-read a few articles on Open Data and government transparency this week. You can always start with President Obama's memo on transparency. Then there was a good article in the Washington Post last month on the subject. However, my favorite piece on Open Data right now is this one from Nat Torkington. Among many other good points, he stresses the need for a community of data users to be able to get more value from the datasets released. This hits close to answering a question I have been thinking a lot about, that is, what is the role of, and value to, the individual citizen in the Open Data movement? What do the release of dozens of datasets mean to most people? If you are not an organization or institution that already consumes and analyzes data, then there needs to be something else that helps the individual engage in this movement, and more importantly, to get value from the data and information being released.

What does Open Data mean to you? Do you see yourself gaining value from it? Have you used Data.gov to retrieve any datasets or used any of its tools?